Relay



Oct. 17, 1950 .1. L. BONANNO RELAY Filed Aug. 30, 1947 BE/YDABLE To ADJ'usr Conner A DJ'UST BENDA TE Nam/1 ADJUSTABLE To VARY AIR GAP.

INVENTOR Jo 55/ A. flo/wmwo 35 71/ m5 ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 17, 1950 RELAY Joseph L. Bonanno, Madison, N. 1., asoignor to The Lionel Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application August 30, 1947, Serial No. 771,449

3 Claims. (01. 200-87) The present invention relates to relays and is more particularly directed toward relays having a small input such as obtainable from the rectification of radio frequency currents and capable of controlling the load circuits of toy railroad accessories and other similar current consuming devices.

The energy available may be of the order of 6 milliwatts while the load to be controlled may be at least as high as 4 amperes at 18 volts.

The present invention contemplates relays for these purposes characterized in having a compact design in which it is possible to eifect ad- Justments to vary the air gap by means of a normally insulated contact adjustable to vary the travel of the armature toward closed position. This adjustment preferably takes the form of an eccentrically mounted disc whose periphery forms the fixed contact.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a design wherein the spacing of the contacts and the tension of the armature spring may be readily varied.

The relay herein shown and claimed is intended for use with electronic receivers and tuning assemblies, such as shown and described in my application for patent Serial No. 771,447, illed August 30. 1947.

The accompanying drawings show, for purposes of illustrating the present invention, an embodiment in which the invention may take form, it being understood that the drawings are illustrative of the invention rather than limiting the same.

In these drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of the relay with parts in section along the line l-l of Figure 2;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the relay;

Figure 3 is a transverse section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an elevational view taken from the left of Figure 1; and

Figure 5 is a sectional view on the broken line H of Figure 4.

The relay has a U-shaped magnetic frame il, coil Ii, core II with pole piece it which projects above the end of the coil. The frame it has an anchorage lug It on which is pivoted an armature ii. The armature is biased in a counter-clockwise direction by a spring II anchored or secured to a lug ll, bent out of the frame. The armature it carries the movable contact I! at its extreme end.

The side of the magnetic frame opposite the pivotal mounting of the armature carries a sheet metal stamping I0, which has a mounting bracket 20 threaded as indicated at 2| to facilitate securing the relay frame in place. The stamping as has lugs 2l'--2i', folded about the side of the frame it to secure it in place and has an upper extension 22 slotted, as indicated at 22, to receive the armature. The frame II and stamping ii are apertured as indicated at 24 and 2|, respectively, to receive a hollow rivet 2|.

Stamping II has extruded bosses 21-21 which enter holes 28-28 in an insulating disc 20. A contact strip ll has similar extrusions 2l-2i to enter the holes is so that the contact strip may be held against rotation relative to the relay structure. The contact strip II has the central extrusion I2 of larger diameter than tubular rivet 28, and this extrusion forms a bearing for a contact disc 23. An insulating washer 24 is pressed against the disc 33 by a sprin 2|, held under tension by upset portion 26 of rivet 2|.

A contact disc 22, preferably made of palladium silver, is mounted opposite the movable contact II. The periphery of disc 21 is eccentric with respect to the axis of the rivet. It has lugs "-32 to facilitate adjusting it about this axis. The distance which the movable contact must travel to reach the edge of the disc can be varied by adjusting the disc angularly so that it is possible to vary the length of the air gap between the pole piece It and the armature when the circuit is closed. A suitable air gap is 0.002" to 0.004 The palladium silver contact is nonwelding and has long life at the current densities above referred to. To facilitate adjusting the open position of the armature contact, the upper end of the armature guide stamping I9 is arranged to be bent over as indicated at ll. The travel of the movable contact may be adjusted to 0.010" to 0.015".

The tension of spring I! may be adjusted by bending the lug l I to vary the voltage at which the relay closes the current. A suitable tension is such that the restoring force at'the relay contact is from 1.5 to 2 grams in the particular relay referred to.

Since it is obvious that the invention may be embodied in other forms and constructions within the scope of the claims, I wish it to be understood that the particular form shown is but one of these forms, and various modifications and changes being possible, I do not otherwise limit myself in any way with respect thereto.

What is claimed is:

1. A relay comprising a U-shaped magnet frame, a core carried by the frame and having 3 a pole piece, a coil about the core, a rigid armature fixedly pivoted to one side of the frame in mmnetic contact therewith and extending across the face of the pole piece and close to the other side of the frame, a contact fixedly carried by the free end of the armature and extending beyond said other side of the frame, a spring biasing the armature away from the pole piece, a side plate secured to the outside face of the side of the magnet frame remote from the armature pivot and earnings stop element against which the spring holds the armature when the coil is deenergized, an outwardly projecting stud carried by the magnet frame, terminal means insulatedly and non-rotatably supported about the stud, a conducting disc bearing on the terminal means and rotatable about the stud, the disc having an eccentric peripheral edge engageable with the contact on the armature to connect the armature and frame to the insulated terminal means and vary the air gap between the pole piece and armature when the contacts are in engagement.

2. A relay such as claimed in claim 1, wherein 4 the stud has an upset outer end, and having an insulating washer bearing on the face of the disc and a spring washer between the insulatinl washer and the upset end of the stud.

8.Arelaysuchasclaimedinclaim 1, wherein thestudiscarriedbyasideplatesecuredtothe side of the magnet frame.

JOSEPH L. B ONANNO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,357,942 Bellman Nov. 9, 1020 1,415,050 Reichart May 8, 1922 1,543,927 Kersten June 30, 1921'. 1,785,887 Chryst Dec. 23, 1980 1,969,488 Wasar Aug. 7, 1034 2,207,292 Hensel et al. July 9, 1040 2,208,225 Nelsen et al July 16, 1840 2,400,003 Hensel et a1 May 7, 1946 2,438,745 Fox Mar. 30, 1048 

